Generation of sub-100 fs pulses from mode-locked Nd,Y:SrF₂laser with enhancing SPM

Abstract

A mode-locked laser using Nd,Y:SrF2 crystal as the gain medium is presented in this letter. By special design of the cavity for enhancing the self-phase modulation effect, femtosecond mode-locking with 97 fs pulse duration and 13.2 nm spectral width centered at 1061 nm is obtained at a repetition rate of 96 MHz. The average output power is 102 mW under 925 mW pump power, corresponding to the optical-to-optical efficiency of 11%. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first sub-100 fs pulses generated from a mode-locked Nd doped crystal laser.